Hi there,

Last year, I planted my first-ever asparagus crown. I planted it in a huge pot and it lived part of the time in a glass-walled back porch and part of the time in the garden.

It did very well. As advised, I let it grow all year and didn't cut any of the shoots (even though it was oh-so-tempting). When it started to get cold, I brought it back into the enclosed porch. (I was so amazed at what it did after the spear stage - it was like a big amazing asparagus frond explosion!)

Anyway, over the winter, I ended up having to do a lot of travelling and wasn't around to water it. The plant dried out completely. (The person watering my plants didn't know there was an asparagus on the back porch.)

I'm back now and wondered if there was any way to tell whether or not the plant is completely dead. It looks dead, but from reading wikipedia and garden websites, it appears that asparagus naturally dies off and resprouts every year anyway which got me hopeful that it might still have some life left in it.

Is there any way to tell whether I've killed it or if it's just lying dormant, waiting for spring? If anyone has any advice on what I might be able to do to make it happy again, I'd much appreciate it!

Apolgoies, I am a /very/ new to gardening and don't even know what I don't know at this stage! : )